The Curse of Pluto
by L.Q. Brooks
Summary: After teenager Logan Brooks is sent to Wilderness School with his friends Leo, Piper, and Jason, things become far from normal. Soon he finds himself faced with the ultimate task: getting rid of the curse of his godly father, or let his curse help Pluto vanquish the world into everlasting darkness. Rated K for brief demigod swearing (Oh my Gods, What the Tartarus) and action.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sun was setting on the weirdest day of my life.

Now, I can try to tell the story as not-weird as I possibly can, but after you hear it, it might seem impossible. Frankly, The Matrix probably would make more sense than this. Or maybe this will make a lot of sense to you, in which case I advise you to run. Understanding my story is a danger to all. So if you don't want to know you might be in danger, leave. Now.

You have been warned.

Hey there. My name is Logan Brooks; perhaps you've heard of me. Which was never what I planned, considering I had always hoped to be that one guy that you pass in the dark corner of wherever you are. Unfortunately, that makes me sound like a stalker.

I'm not a stalker; at least, I hope I'm not. Yet everybody I've said that to would raise an eyebrow or otherwise run away from me. I hope I'm not that freaky. On the other hand, with my black hair, green eyes and, well, my overall tendency to look like a skeleton are not things I can help. And it's not something I'm proud of either.

Now Leo Valdez on the other hand is my complete opposite. He's _fine _with looking like a Latino Santa's elf. (And I'm not even being mean. He's a Latino Santa's elf, and he's accepted it.) And Leo's great and all that, but I'm pretty sure if I knew what he was going to get me into, I would never have become his friend.

Anyway, a few months into my freshman year, my parents thought it'd be _hilarious _to send me to Wilderness School (a boarding school who figured it would make you feel like less of a prison if it added the word 'wilderness'). Our chaperone/coach/vertically-challenged-crazy-person, Gleeson Hedge, was just barely five feet tall and was the angriest person I'd ever known. Like, really. He could just as easily yell at us 'happy-little-campers' as he could beat Bigfoot in an angry-off. Which I would pay to see, by the way.

He called everybody 'cupcakes', and the point of that was probably to push us to the imaginary cuteness overload. Except whenever he said the word 'cupcake' or anything less cute (I'm picturing a happy little cupcake right next to an emo one. I like the emo one better.) he would say it in a rude and sarcastic tone.

Piper McLean, my second best friend, deserved to be called cupcake. Like, gods, she was gorgeous. She had this dark-chocolate brown hair and a mixture of brown-green eyes that I've never seen on any other girl, or boy, for that matter. If she wasn't dating Jason, I would be all over her like white on rice. Like a moth to a flame. A flame that I wouldn't let any other moths (especially ones named Leo) onto.

Now for Jason Grace. I honestly don't know what Piper sees in him. Maybe that's because I'm a guy, or maybe it's because Jason is pretty resistible anyway. He's got short blonde hair, way too blue eyes, and a scar right above his upper lip from the time he tried to eat a stapler. (Forgive him. He was a toddler. Toddlers do those kinds of things.)

Now, it wasn't like lots of things led up to making that day the weirdest day of my life; no, it was just the single thing that completely changed my aspect on life. I don't want you to feel like I'm downplaying what happened, because I'm not. It really was just a single thing. And this is how my story begins.

We (we being Leo, Piper, Jason, Hedge, all the other cupcakes, and I) were sitting on the Wilderness School bus as we ventured to our cabins back at home base. I had my MP3 Player playing a Panic! At The Disco shuffle (it was currently playing Miss Jackson, my least favorite song by them). I turned it down when I saw Leo excitedly turning to me and talking. I afterwards took my Radio-Shack headphones down from my ears.

"What were you saying, Valdez?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. My actions were probably ruder than I had anticipated. But it didn't take down Leo's grin. Piper took a second from snuggling with Jason to look up at Leo and I.

Leo cleared his throat and said, "The three of us were wondering, how would you like to play Truth or Dare with us?" I considered it. I was trying to remember the last time I had played Truth or Dare. It had always crossed my mind that Truth or Dare was something that only kids ages four to nine would play or ask to play. But eventually I realized it was Leo I was talking to.

With a short and unneeded sigh I muttered, "Alright." After I said it, I immediately felt guilty for being so rude; so, in the effect of my realization, I tried to put on a happy face. I'm guessing it wasn't very convincing, because Piper bit her lip.

"Logan, you don't have to play if you don't want to. But we would adore if you did," she said with a soft smile. Her words, stupid and cheesy as this may seem, seemed to wrap me in warmth. Her voice would sound desperate if she wasn't so good at using her voice and her looks to get her what she wanted. I smiled, shaking my head shortly, not wanting it to seem like I was saying no.

"Of course I want to play. Truth or Dare sounds very fun," I uttered, as if I had no control of what words were coming out of my mouth. Which, coincidentally, I didn't. The toothy grin appeared on both Leo and Piper's faces once more.

"_Excellent_," Leo said, sounding like he was trying far too hard to sound like a villain from a cartoon. Although Leo wasn't a villain, and we all knew that. We all knew he was just a giant cupcake of happiness. "So, Logan. Truth or Dare?"

I thought about it; and eventually my thoughts concerning whether to choose Truth or Dare changed into why I thought so hard about everything. There's not a single point to doing it. So I just said the first thing that came into my mouth.

"Truth."

I chose truth because, well, nobody's stupid enough to take a dare from Leo Valdez, especially around Coach Hedge. On any other occasion, I probably would have chose dare just to show myself off to Piper. Which would start a feud between Jason and I. So yeah, that probably wouldn't be the best situation at any time.

"Who do you like here at Wilderness School?" Leo asked, smiling evilly. I shot a look at him while Piper cupped her hands to her lips and said 'ooh' for a really long time. My face flushed (although I didn't think that was possible, considering I was already pale enough) and I gulped, slacking once Piper finally stopped with her weird sounds.

I answered in the coolest way possible. "What do I have to do if I chicken out?" My, it sure sounded cool in my head but once it came out, I felt so embarrassed. Of _course _I had to use the phrase 'chicken out' next to Jason, Piper, and Leo.

Leo gave it some thought (which I'd never seen him do, actually. Normally all the words Leo wants just pours out of his mouth before he has time to check if they are legit lame or legit Leo. Sometimes it was the same thing) before saying, "If you chicken out, you have to _ask that girl out. _Don't worry, Brooks. I won't humiliate you too bad."

Oh my gods, Valdez sure knew how to push you past your breaking point. Luckily, my breaking point is hidden deep, deep underneath. Which I guess isn't anything to be proud of, but still. Finally I put my headphones back on my ears and turned up the volume. "Whatever, Valdez."

Leo rolled his eyes and leaned in next to Piper, whispering something into her ear. Piper giggled a cute little giggle. I didn't have much time to enjoy it before Coach Hedge screamed from the front of the bus.

"What in Tartarus are you _cupcakes _doing back there?!" our short chaperone demanded out of the four of us. He then turned straight to me. "Turn off that music, _cupcake__!" _I fumbled for my headphones and took them down.

Leo raised an eyebrow at Hedge. "Coach? I can't hear you! Maybe you should use your megaphone!" Coach Hedge smirked like he was glad Leo had asked. He picked up his megaphone and turned it up to full volume.

He repeated what he had said with a scream, but it came out the other end sounding like Mickey Mouse. Jason nearly fell onto the floor laughing. Coach stomped down to our seats. I gulped once more and looked down, letting my long hair fall into my face.

Hedge pointed a finger at Leo. "You! You get to clean up dorms in the morning!" Leo smirked and nodded. He took another step and pointed his finger down at Jason. "And you! You get to help him!"

I placed my palm onto my face, hoping I could disappear as soon as possible. After a second, I felt Coach Hedge's morning breath fall onto me and trickle into my nose. I scrunched my nose. Hedge shook his head and pointed to me, turning to the rest of the bus. "And this boy! This boy gets to clean up the Mess Hall! And this girl!" he continued to scream, pointing to Piper.

So I could be alone with Piper McLean after dinner? With no Leo, Jason, Hedge, or the other cupcakes to tease me? Well, maybe Leo getting me in trouble isn't the most terrible thing in the world.

I could get used to this.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cleaning up the mess hall hardly counted as a date. Honestly, though? If it means being closer to Miss. America for the rest of the evening, I'll take anything that Coach Hedge can throw at me. Of course, letting Leo know I was excited about this would give him the ultimate clue on the girl I liked.

So naturally, after Hedge stormed back to the front of the bus, I put my headphones back on and turned my MP3 up to full volume. It was finally playing 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies', my ultimate favorite song. Now, that might seem like I'm trying to just find a way to drown myself from Leo and take any Panic! At The Disco song as my favorite. Which, of course, is partly the case; although it is my favorite.

Leo was trying desperately to get my attention. Apparently he was trying _insanely _hard, because I could see drips of sweat running down his cheeks. I could easily tell what he was mouthing. Or, at least, I thought I could.

_Logan, please just listen to me, _Leo was saying. _I'm sorry I got us all in trouble. _Which I figured wasn't the case, considering he was still wearing the smirk that he had formerly used on Coach Hedge. And also, I had never heard him actually, sincerely, apologize in his life. I don't want to make him sound like a bad friend, or a bad person in general, but gods know what he did to end up at Wilderness School.

Ever since I had been sent here, I had been wondering exactly that. And, stupid as this may seem, I never thought to actually _ask _him the question. Wow, I'm certainly the smartest person that I know. I sighed once again and completely turned off the music.

"Hey, Leo?" I asked him, deciding it was finally time to put my tongue and voice box to use. Leo's smirk turned into a full on grin. Like the full-on, extremely excited little elf that I see so little of the time.

Leo gestured to Piper and Jason before he spoke. "Did you hear that, guys? Logan Brooks didn't lose his voice today!" I rolled my eyes, not wanting to continue to be rude but not wanting to listen to any more of his sly remarks.

"Right, so, yeah. What did you even _do _to get stuck here, Leo? You certainly seem like the kind of guy who could get in trouble in lots of different and interesting ways. Please, Master Valdez, tell me your secrets," I continued in one long breath. He took his index finger and patted his chin with it, as if he had to think about which trouble he got into that made him finally have to leave.

"It's a really funny story, actually," he said, straightening his spine and clasping his two hands together. "And if you're going to call me _anything_, Logan, don't call me Master. My true identity is Sensei Valdez."

He looked at me like he actually expected me to call him Sensei. I was about 80% sure he was joking, but then I realized, 'Hey. It's Leo Valdez we're talking about here.' So I shook my head with a small smile. "Alright, Sensei Valdez. Teach me your methods."

"Well, after my dad left and my mom got..." he bit his lip and closed his eyes here, as if to hold back tears, "after I left home, I broke out of seven different foster homes before the lady trying to find me a new home got sick and tired of my high jinks." His frown morphed back into his signature smirk. "I just can't be controlled. I mean, I'm Leo Valdez, the Bad Boy. I'm completely made of awesome."

It's just like Leo to take a deep moment and turn it into one of his Leo jokes. That's Leo for you, always making jokes, especially if the moment is incredibly sincere and there is no point to adding a joke. Also, he loves building or taking apart things to learn how they were made. Oh, yeah; I probably should have mentioned that before.

Do you remember how I told you that one of the cupcakes made Coach Hedge's megaphone crazy so that it would sound like an angry Mickey Mouse asking for misbehaving cupcakes to pipe down or something along those lines? Yeah, well, that crazy idea had Leo Valdez written all over it. Although it would probably be a very Logan-y thing to do, I can very well see Leo smearing his name onto the megaphone in oil and ashes. I would praise my Sensei forever if he had done that.

That was probably also the reason that Coach Hedge was so quick to punish Leo after his voice was turned into Walt Disney's. Or maybe Hedge thought it was something only the problem student could pull off. Our chaperone seems like the kind of guy that would be so fast to stereotype our favorite Valdez as the guy that messed up all his stuff.

In Leo's defense, though, he probably didn't ruin _all _of Coach Hedge's stuff; just lots and lots of it. I can easily picture Leo rewiring Coach's bunk so that it turns into a Ferris Wheel bunk-bed. I would definitely pay to see that happen. I'm currently playing it out in my head. Hedge falls off his bed in the middle of the night as he grunts and curses. It would be great.

That would also mean Hedge would shake his fist at the ceiling and yell out Leo, Jason, Piper and I's last names to nobody in particular. Probably the gods, considering this entire boarding school seems insanely occupied with figuring out which god did what and why. And then he would probably do something extremely stupid to get revenge. Like Caligula.

Caligula was supposedly this Roman emperor who was so ticked off at Poseidon that he started this war against the god which ultimately ended with her troops stabbing the water, thinking that would hurt Poseidon. It seems like something Hedge would do.

Again, I do not want to sound like a stereotype, and I definitely do _not_ want to get on Coach Hedge's bad side. I'm sure I haven't exactly seen his total bad side yet, and I'm not planning to do so in the future. I can only hope I can stay out of his way before the four of us cupcakes get to leave Wilderness School. And I'll be darned if that doesn't happen soon.

I had only just realized it had been a long time since I had responded to Leo; I must have been extremely deep in thought, because as soon as I realized I was supposed to respond to what Leo had said, he was already snapping his fingers in front of my face and saying, "Hello? Earth to Logan?" Eventually he turned to Stapler-Face Grace. "Houston, we have a problem."

I blinked and squinted my eyes to the outside of the window, trying to examine where we were. After a few seconds, I turned back to my friends. "Sorry, I must have zoned out. I wonder why that happened." I pushed my hair to the back of my head, trying to look as nonchalant as I could. And, while doing so, I was half hoping Piper would notice.

"You know, Brooks, you shouldn't think so hard about everything. I know, getting you in trouble wasn't very nice, but..." said Leo. I cut him off before he could give me a lame excuse on why he got me in trouble _this _time. He was pretending like he didn't know I could easily see through him.

"It's fine, Leo," I said through gritted teeth. Oh my gods, how condescending could I get? And before you ask, I don't exactly _try _to be condescending. It just comes naturally. Leo was silent the rest of the way back to Wilderness School.

I didn't even bother to listen to my music anymore. I was too sick and tired of Brendon Urie singing about how he had a dream about ruining everybody's weddings, and how they would hide Janet Jackson, or whatever the heck Panic! At The Disco sang about. I wasn't even completely sure why I liked them, but I do.

About six minutes after we all shut up, the bus jerked to a halt. Coach Hedge jumped up and stomped as he turned around, clearing his throat for an unnaturally long time. "We have arrived, _cupcakes! _Oh, and Valdez! Brooks! Grace! McLean! Remember, you four get to clean up the place after you thought my megaphone was so hilarious." He exclaimed a _ha! _like he had said an extremely hilarious joke.

And that's when the Cerberus broke through the bus.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Cerberi can really mess up a good day.

Before I learned about mythology, I might have said a Black Lab had been in a _serious _nuclear accident, but then I realized that would be ripping off Clifford the Big Red Dog. So, in case you don't know what a Cerberus is, it's basically a giant three-headed black dog that guards the Underworld. Hades must be a thrill at parties.

"Woah!" I exclaimed as soon as it broke in. As I was sitting in the very back seat, I climbed up to the top of my seat so as to get as far away from our three-headed-puppy friend as possible. As you can imagine, I'm not much help when Greek monsters crash into our boarding school. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Piper suddenly became quick on her feet, jumping into the aisle and pulling out a knife that was tinted gold. Jason raised an eyebrow at me, either as if to call me a 'cool' coward (which I hate being called; both cool and a coward) or to brag about his girlfriend. I raised an eyebrow back at him as if to say I didn't give a Styx.

Piper growled a growl that soon turned into a scream. "For Jupiter!" she yelled, throwing the knife perfectly towards the Cerberus' middle neck. The hell hound threw his paw out, knocking the knife's aim off and making it break a window and instead pierce a berry bush. She groaned and beckoned for Jason desperately.

Stapler Boy grasped Piper and began to defy gravity. Once he flew parallel to the Cerberus' stomach, he leaned slightly to the right, using his left leg to kick the monster. The three headed dog growled and threw his hands up in the air before using his right head to knock Jason and Piper right out of his path. My two friends slid onto a seat in the middle, Piper letting out frequent sighs and cries and Jason apparently trying to comfort her.

Valdez raised his hands horizontally, and suddenly summoned two small flames that produced themselves atop his two palms. And I was still trying to take in what was going on. When I had agreed to go to Wilderness School, I hadn't realized at the time that I was signing my death wish. I can never imagine, though, me telling my mother that I wanted 'Death by A Random Three Headed Labrador'.

Leo began visibly shooting fire bolts at the monster. As they flew, the flames turned all different colors. It went from red to orange, from purple to white, from golden yellow to an insanely bright blue. When the fire reached the Cerberus' skin, they left really dark black bruises, but other then a few shrieks, it didn't seem to perform a lot of damage on the monster.

That didn't stop him from trying; he continued to throw multicolored circles of fire, the circles getting smaller and smaller centimeter by centimeter as Leo grew more tired. "Come on, Leo! You can do this!" I helped.

He looked at me with a desperate facial expression. "Help me! Please!" he yelled. His eyes slowly welled up with tears which seemed to lessen the power of his fire even more. I fumbled, sweating and trying to think of how in Olympus I could possibly assist Leo. I closed my eyes and shook my head, standing up in the aisle.

"Leo, get down! I've got this!" I demanded. I had no idea what I was doing; I figured whatever I did would only get me closer to an unfortunate and untimely demise. I know it sucks to think of it like that, but what are you supposed to think when you're faced with a mythological creature that is also quite literally Pluto's henchman?

Leo crouched down on the seat as a group of kids surrounded the bus, yelling, "Skeleton man! Get the doggy!" I rolled my eyes and raised my right fist towards the Cerberus. As I yelled my battle cry (For Cupcakes!), I lunged towards the monster and threw some useless punches. It pushed me backwards. And that's when I began to think.

_If Jason is able to defy gravity or whatever, and Leo is able to control fire, I wonder... _I focused my energy on my surroundings. For ten or so seconds, nothing happened. Soon I felt a rumbling in the Earth; I stood up and looked out the window. In the road, several cracks formed on their own, until the cracks had formed several circles.

The rumbling continued, eventually making the cracked circles in the road float into midair and crash into the window. One of the stones carried Piper's knife back into the bus. Jason floated up and caught it, returning it to his girlfriend.

I now focused my energy both on the Cerberus and the pieces of earth that surrounded me. I lifted my hands, hoping my movement would also help the movement of the rocks. I narrowed my eyes at the hell hound and whipped my wrists, back at first and then front once more. "Goodbye," I said, furthermore tossing the rocks at the three headed dog. The force knocked the creature down onto it's back, ultimately crushing it.

The hell hound groaned loud enough that I'm surprised it wasn't deafening; after listening to the roar, the Cerberus was reduced to hundreds of golden pieces of dust. When the dust fell to the ground and disappeared, the Cerberus was gone.

Coach Hedge's eyes widened; it was the first time I had ever seen him surprised. I was still focused on the place that the hell hound had once stood. Our coach cleared his throat and tried to hide the fact that he obviously couldn't believe the new kid had killed a dangerous monster. Piper and Jason got up from their seat, placing their hands on their foreheads, groaning. Even Leo looked completely tired.

Hedge took a breath. "Everybody to the mess hall. Dinner tonight is Meatloaf." The cupcakes all sighed in unison. "I'm going to be in my study; nobody bother me. You wouldn't want to end up like Grace, McLean, Valdez, and Brooks."

With that, our chaperone ran off of the bus and into the Wilderness School building.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Skipping dinner that night was my first big mistake.

After Coach Hedge left the bus, I stretched out my hand towards Leo to help him up. He smiled and grasped my hand, struggling momentarily to get on his feet. I made eye contact with Jason and stumbled slightly as Leo and I walked over to him.

One of the other cupcakes walked up from behind me and patted me on the shoulder. "Hey, good job, Brooks. You know, killing that Labrador and all that." He gave me a smile and walked off the bus; now it was solely the four of us left on the bus.

Leo looked up at the hole the Cerberus left in the ceiling. "Yeah, I have got to admit, Logan. You did a pretty good job disintegrating the _Labrador," _he told me, brushing ashes off of his palms. Piper bit her lip, but then she began to laugh._  
_

"Holy Zeus, what did we just _do?_" she asked, putting her knife back into her pocket. Jason locked his left hand into her right, and he nodded with a laugh, looking at Leo.

"Yeah, Leo. That was by far the weirdest thing I have ever seen in my life," Stapler-Boy told him with a half-grin. "Shouldn't you have burnt yourself by this point? Or, the bus for that matter?"

Leo shook his head and showed him a wide grin. "Speak for yourself, Grace. I thought only superheroes could fly faster-than-a-speeding-bullet. We should get you a Superman suit." Jason shook his head and looked down. I wasn't completely sure whether he was looking at where the hell hound disappeared, or whether he was just looking at his grey tennis shoes.

"Yeah, well..." Jason paused, as if trying to think of what to say next, "the same goes for throwing fire out of your hands. I mean, there's such a thing as flying, but what about fire power?"

Piper slid out of her boyfriend's grip to put both of her hands up as if she were confessing. "Alright, alright. You're both excellent at doing supernatural things. But seriously, somebody should start talking about what Logan here did." I blushed and looked up at the hole in the ceiling, then over to all the broken windows.

"Nah," I said, "I think the only thing I did is force Coach Hedge to pay damage fees for Wilderness School." Leo and Jason laughed, but Piper shook her head at them. Jason stopped abruptly, but it took Leo a few extra seconds to cease his laughter. Piper straightened her spine and patted me on the back.

"Come on, Logan. Seriously, though; fire throwing and flying are cool and all, but have either of you seen someone breaking earth with their mind? That _has _to be some sort of telekinesis, or at the least it was just an enormous earthquake. Either way, we all have our good friend Logan Brooks to thank."

I didn't honestly have enough strength to blush, but there was again something about her voice that made me want to do whatever she wanted. I don't know what it was. I cleared my throat and spoke before anybody could have the chance to thank me. "I'm just going to go to dinner," I said, looking down and avoiding eye contact.

Piper shrugged. "Alright, I guess. See you at the Mess Hall, Logan." She smiled at me, and I flashed a crooked smile back at her. Jason repeated Piper in a dull, monotone. I nodded and walked out of the bus.

I looked up at the sign that was carved out of a log that reminded you that you were at Wilderness Land, the happiest boarding school of all. I took a deep breath and pushed the double doors open.

Now, the actual boarding school is the only place where cupcakes can relax themselves. Except for those who have to clean up the place for being accused of something that your best friend did.

I was trying to remember from the directory where Coach Hedge's study was. There were two long hallways that curved at the edge of the school; one of them leading to the dorms, and one of them leading to classrooms. The two hallways surrounded what Coach called the Mess Hall, which was just six or seven long tables that stretched from the entrance to the place where the food is actually served.

Was Coach's study classified as a dorm, or as a classroom? That was one of the only things Wilderness School doesn't teach you. A good and trustworthy sense of direction. One of the most important things you could learn; that and math.

Eventually I decided that it was probably classified as a classroom. I tiptoed down the left hallway, hoping to see a sign that contained the words 'Coach Hedge's Study' in big neon letters. The hallway twisted and turned in a bunch of different confusing ways. By where I was after about ten minutes, I could hear the rowdiness in the Mess Hall of all the delinquents talking at once.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at the thought of it, still making sure to contain any sounds that are trying to escape from inside my body. I found myself to be rather excellent at that.

After tiptoeing around one more corner, I heard Hedge's voice quietly. I followed the voice and stood up straight against one of the wooden walls, listening to Hedge. He was talking on the phone with someone.

"...broke through the bus," I heard. Whoever was on the phone with Hedge mumbled something. "I know. And the boy...you know, the Skeleton boy...you know who I mean. The Brooks guy...Yes, Logan Brooks." I smiled to myself. I had never known Coach had payed _so _much attention to me as to actually know my first name. I had only ever heard him call me 'Brooks' or 'Skeleton Boy'.

"Anyway, he actually slayed the Cerberus...no, I have no idea where it came from, but...sir...hold on, Chiron. Please listen to me." I squinted my eyes in confusion and mouthed, _Chiron__?_ I knew that name, I definitely did. Chiron was the name of the famous centaur of Greek mythology. Before about fifteen minutes ago, I wouldn't have believed that Chiron was real. But after I met the Cerberus, I figured I'd give believing a chance.

"I don't believe he is normal, if you know what I mean." I cringed. _I know exactly what you mean, Hedge,_ I thought, _and may I just say, ouch._ Alright, so I wasn't positive that I knew what he meant, but I could certainly take a wild guess and say he thought I'm some mutant. Maybe I'm an X-Man. That would be awesome.

Hedge must have put down the phone or something, because he put Chiron on speakerphone. "You are not telling me, Gleeson, that you believe this boy to be a demigod." Hedge grunted.

"That is exactly what I believe, sir. And I am taking a guess on which godly parent he has," replied Hedge. I had to take a second to take that sentence in. As if Chiron was letting me, he paused before he responded.

"Then who, sir, do you believe Logan Brooks' godly parent is?" Chiron said, as if the answer to his question was obvious, and he already knew exactly what Coach Hedge would say.

"I think," Hedge paused, probably for dramatic effect. It seemed like something he would probably do, "that Skeleton Boy's father is Pluto." A loud gasp had almost come out of me, and I had to try incredibly hard to keep it inside. Coach Hedge didn't really believe that my daddy is the Roman god of the underworld, right?

Then a feeling overwhelmed me. After all, Coach Hedge seemed like the kind of guy who would be pretentious to the big guy, Chiron. I was fully expecting Chiron to say something like _Gleeson, there is no way such a nice boy could be the son of the god of the underworld._ I know that the centaur doesn't know me, but he should know at this point I'm just a ray of sunshine.

"I do not understand. How exactly, Gleeson, can you make this assumption so quickly about the boy?" Chiron asked him. I could almost see Chiron raising an eyebrow at the phone.

"It all fits together, doesn't it? I've seen enough sons and daughters of Hades, and they all resemble each other almost exactly. And the boy; he's pale, tall, bony? It's almost obvious. And there's only one person, mortal or immortal, that has enough power over Cerberi in order to send one to destroy a bus. He _is _the god of the underworld's son."

Chiron paused to consider everything that Hedge had told him. I begged to Zeus that Chiron would tell Coach that his belief was preposterous, because that's how I imagine Chiron talks. Gods, please, Chiron. Just tell Coach Hedge that he's wrong, and I'll be happy. I can return with Piper and clean the Mess Hall, and I'll go on with my life. I totally and utterly believe in you.

"You might be right, Gleeson. It _would _make sense that Pluto is Logan Brooks' father, but there is only one way to find out for sure. We must wait to see if he gets claimed. I can almost assure you that the boy is normal, but if he isn't...you must send him and any other demigods at your boarding school to Camp Half Blood immediately. Remember, we are in Long Island South, New York. I trust you with this task, Gleeson. You must give me a good reason to trust you. Make me proud."

As the centaur said the final few sentences, the line went scratchy before finally going dead. "Right," said Coach Hedge to himself. "I will do this for you, Chiron. Thank you." Almost immediately after he finished, the bell to end dinner rang. I ran down to the Mess Hall, trying to grasp my mind over the conversation I had just heard.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When I had agreed to clean the Mess Hall, I hadn't known what I was getting into.

After the bell rang, I had to be sure to run as far away from Coach Hedge's Study as possible, just in case he would come out to check on Piper and I to make sure that we were cleaning up. And I was kind of desperate to make sure that I wouldn't be caught so he would never know that I was eavesdropping over his and Chiron's conversation.

And I also certainly didn't want to keep Piper waiting, because I wouldn't want to let her think I had ditched her and make her clean up the Mess Hall all on her own. Oh my gods, I could never do that to her.

Once I reached the end of the hallway, I stood at the very corner where the Mess Hall meets the Magical Hallway of Classrooms, just to make sure that everybody except for Piper had gone out before I went in.

After I waited for another forty seconds, I peeked on the other side of the corner to see that she was completely alone. When I saw just Piper, sitting at the edge of the third table away from me, I smiled to myself. Nothing at this point could ruin my afternoon alone with the ultimate cupcake, Piper McLean. I took a deep breath and walked into the Mess Hall.

Most of the time, when I leave the Mess Hall, I never actually realize how dirty the tables and the floor are. As I came in and sat next to Piper, I was still trying to figure out what Hedge had meant when he said that my 'godly father is Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld', and what Chiron meant when he said I had to be 'claimed' to find out for sure.

Piper turned towards me as soon as I sat down. "Hey, Logan!" she said, smiling and flashing her perfect, pearly white teeth. I smiled back at her and nodded shortly before returning to looking down with a mixed expression on my face. Piper cocked her head to the side, confused. "I didn't see you at lunch. What's wrong? Is something getting you down?" She put one arm around me which forced a chill through my spine.

"Yeah, I guess," I said dully, wanting to get up and start cleaning but also not wanting to break Piper's embrace. I didn't know if she wanted me to continue talking or not, so I kept my mouth shut until she talked again to me.

"You guess?" she asked, not moving a piece of her body except for her mouth. "What do you mean, you _guess, _Logan? Remember, you can tell me anything." She smiled once more. I smiled back at her halfheartedly.

"It's just...well, I was eavesdropping on Coach Hedge, and he was on a phone call with...Chiron, the centaur," I responded. Piper raised an eyebrow as her arm fell from my torso. She didn't seem to be too surprised, but that was probably because of the Cerberus incident.

Piper then nodded and looked at me intently. "Yes, and what did they say?" she asked. I took a deep breath before I answered. I figured I'd be ready to tell her; I'd be ready to tell anybody, frankly. I just needed a moment to remind myself what I was about to do.

"They were saying that, well," I bit my lip, "they were saying that I might be something called a demigod. Apparently it's, like, people who's parents are a god and a mortal. And they were also saying that my godly father might be...Pluto." I shook my head and rubbed my hand down my face, putting my head down again. "I don't know, Piper."

Piper opened her mouth as if trying to find a way to respond, but after a second or two, she closed it again. There was a minute of silence before I heard an angry voice behind us. "Hey you _cupcakes! _Stop lollygagging and get to work!" Coach Hedge's angry feet stomped away before either of us could respond. I sighed and lifted my head up.

"He's right, you know. We probably should be getting to work," I said. I lifted one leg over the wooden table, and then the other. Still, I stopped for a moment before standing all the way up. Piper repeated me, thrusting her legs over the table and getting up. I followed her to the Janitor's Closet which was never actually used by any janitors, because Wilderness School was too cool for that. No, most nights usually ended up the same; with one or two cupcakes picking of bits and pieces of the pizza that fell off the tray off of the seats, or scraping tens of little pieces of chewed Mentos Gum off of the floor.

I opened the door to the Closet, which contained mops, brooms, rags and Windex spray bottles filled with water from the Wilderness School drinking fountains. There was also, strangely, a large assortment of knifes laying on a shelf which were probably for the gum. I grabbed a mop in my right hand, and used my left to put a spray bottle and a rag into my overly large pocket.

"Wow. I sure wish there was a bucket of water somewhere around here so that I could wet the mop," I said with a small grin. "I wonder what the other slaves had to do to mop the Mess Hall floor correctly." I only then realized that my choice of words probably weren't the best, considering I was talking to an innocent girl. (An innocent girl who carried a knife in her pocket. Whatever.)

Piper smiled at me. "You know what? You're right. And you know what else? Why doesn't Coach Hedge ever do these types of things? It's not even our fault that Leo did some hilarious remodeling with Coach's megaphone." She chuckled, pushing a lock of her hair away from her face.

"I like it like that," I told her. She looked at me, obviously very confused. So I clarified. "I like when locks of your hair land on your face. It makes you seem..." _Oh gods, Logan, don't do this, _I thought, "like a..." _What on _earth _made you think this is a good idea?_ my brain demanded of me, "like a dangerous girl." Piper's eyes widened and she looked down, locking her fingers together.

Piper laughed just to stop the awkwardness. "Thanks, Logan. I'm flattered." I smirked and put one of my legs out, leaning down into a bow. Wow, I hadn't realized how much of a _move maker _I was that day.

"Why, you are most certainly welcome, Mistress McLean," I told her as I bowed. "Now, why don't we go somewhere not so boring?" I looked up at her, my smirk slowly turning into a smile.

Piper laughed once more; an honest laugh, not just an awkward one. She dropped her cleaning supplies, so I took out my rag and spray bottle, which helped my mop fall, and I loosened my grip on them and let them drop as well.

She put her hand out in my direction, so I smiled and took it as she said, "There's nothing that I'd like more."


End file.
